Updates, advisories and surprises

(5:09 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Xilinx Inc.
XLNX, -0.89%
reported after close Wednesday a fiscal first-quarter profit of $129.8 million, or 47 cents a share, down from $154.4 million, or 56 cents a share a year ago. Revenue for the three months ended June 30 fell 5% to $582.8 million compared with revenues of $615.5 million in the same period last year. Wall Street expected the San Jose, Calif.-based chipmaker to report earnings per share of 45 cents on $574.7 million in revenue, according to FactSet polling. Xilinx shares fell slightly in after-hours trades. Ahead of the report, the stock was down 3.8% over the past 12 months.

Cloud, analytics highlight IBM results

(4:51 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - IBM Corp. 's
IBM, -1.33%
results highlighted the company's gains in cloud computing and business analytics, two key trends in corporate IT. IBM said business analytics revenue were up 13% in the first half of the year, while its cloud revenue doubled in the same period. Sterne Agee's Shaw Wu said the cloud and analytics results "show that their focus on growth markets is working. The IT market is clearly tough given the global macroeconomic slowdown, but [IBM] is doing the best it can to withstand it." Shares of IBM were up 2% after-hours.

Capital One profit slumps on card settlement

(4:51 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Capital One Financial Corp.
COF, -0.48%
late Wednesday reported its second-quarter net income available to shareholders slumped to $92 million, or 16 cents a share, from $911 million, or $1.97 a share, in the same period last year. Quarterly results were impacted by a $60 million settlement with regulators related to its card business. The company also set aside $150 million in cash to fund expected customer refunds. Net interest income rose to $4 billion from $3.14 billion while revenue totaled $5.06 billion versus $3.99 billion a year ago. Shares of Capital One edged up 0.3% to $55.03 in after-hours trading.

Qualcomm investors may see bottom, analyst says

(4:46 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Qualcomm Inc. picked up more than 4.7% in after-hours trades on Wednesday, despite issuing a forecast for the current quarter that fell below Wall Street's estimates. Stacy Rasgon of Bernstein Research said investors may have been keying in on stronger-than-expected licensing revenue that was driven by higher device average selling prices, or ASPs. That suggests that weakness in the wireless deivce business that was evidenced by lower chipset shipments is coming at the lower end of the market, Rasgon said. Also, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs pointed to what he expects to be a "back-end loaded" calendar year, indicating planned recovery of the market likely keyed on the launch of the iPhone 5. "If the chipsets are worse - which everyone expected - but the trends are the same, then maybe things have bottomed," Rasgon said. Qualcomm shares are down 16% since the company's last earnings report in mid-April.

Yum Brands profit rises on same-store sales growth

(4:37 PM ET) CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Yum Brands overcame a slight decline in margins and a higher tax rate with strong same-store sales growth that helped push its second quarter earnings higher, the fast-food chain said Wednesday. Yum
YUM, -0.87%
earned $331 million, or 69 cents a share, on the period, up from $316 million, or 65 cents a share, in the same quarter a year ago. Excluding items, it would have earned 67 cents a share. Revenue rose 12% to $3.17 billion. The average estimate of analysts polled by FactSet had been for Yum to earn 70 cents a share on revenue of $3.11 billion. Yum said that same-store sales were up 10% in China, 4% at its international division and 7% in the U.S. The company also confirmed its full year target for EPS of at least 12% and bumped its forecast for new unit openings to 1,700 internationally, including at least 700 in China.

American Express says card spending growth slows

(4:27 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- American Express
AXP, +0.42%
reported late Wednesday second-quarter profit of $1.3 billion, or $1.15 a share, compared with a profit of $1.3 billion, or $1.10 a share, in the same 2011 period. Revenue rose 5% to $7.96 billion. Cardmember spending rose 7%, a slower rate than recent quarters. Provisions for losses totaled $461 million, up 29% from a year ago. Return on equity fell to 26.6% from 28.2%. In a statement, CEO Kenneth Chenault said the company would be "vigilant in managing discretionary expenses" given the "uncertain economic outlook." He said American Express would continue to make substantial marketing investments. American Express shares are up 24% since Jan. 1. That compares to a 5.6% gain for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, -1.11%
of which American Express is a component. Shares closed Wednesday at $58.29.

EBay earnings climb almost 145%

(4:25 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- EBay Inc.
EBAY, -0.42%
on Wednesday cited a strong performance by its marketplaces business as a key reason why it reported a fiscal second-quarter profit of $692 million, or 53 cents a share, on $3.4 billion in revenue. During the same period a year ago, eBay earned $283 million, or 22 cents a share on $2.8 billion in sales in the same period a year ago. Excluding one-time items, eBay would have earned $730 million, or 56 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet Research had forecast eBay to earn 55 cents a share, excluding one-time items, on revenue of $3.36 billion.

Qualcomm forecast misses expectations

(4:20 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Qualcomm Inc. issued a forecast for the September quarter that came in below analysts' projections on Wednesday afternoon, along with its results for the June period. Qualcomm
QCOM, +0.67%
which makes chipsets used in wireless devices, said it expects revenue for the September period to come in the range of $4.45 billion to $4.85 billion. Analysts had been expecting revenue of $4.9 billion for the quarter, according to FactSet. Earnings are projected to come in the range of 78-84 cents per share, below the 89 cents-per-share expected by analysts. The company's projected shipments of mobile station modem, or MSM, units was also below Wall Street's forecasts, indicating that the company sees a potential slowdown in the smartphone market for the period. Qualcomm shares fell initially after the report hit the wires, but were last up 1.8% in after-hours trades.

IBM posts higher profit, raises outlook

(4:17 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - IBM Corp.
IBM, -1.33%
on Wednesday reported a second-quarter profit of $3.88 billion, or $3.34 a share, compared with a profit of $3.66 billion, or $3 a share, for the year-earlier period. Revenue was $25.8 billion, down from $26.7 billion. Adjusted operating profit was $3.51 a share. Analysts were expecting the company to report a profit of $3.43 a share, on revenue of $26.3 billion, according to FactSet. IBM raised its full-year operating earnings outlook to "at least $15.10" a share. Shares of IBM were up 2% in after-hours trading.

Stryker posts 4.8% higher profit

(4:12 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Medical technology company Stryker Corp.
SYK, -1.39%
reported late Wednesday a second-quarter profit of $325 million, or 85 cents a share, up from a profit of $310 million, or 80 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue for the quarter rose 2.9% to $2.1 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had predicted the company would earn 99 cents a share. Shares of Kalamazoo, Mich.-based Stryker have risen nearly 8% so far this year, closing Wednesday at $53.57.

Qualcomm earnings rise 15% in third fiscal quarter

(4:09 PM ET) SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Qualcomm Inc. reported a 15% gain in earnings for its third fiscal quarter on Wednesday afternoon, with adjusted results coming in slightly below Wall Street's projections for the period. For the period ended June 24, Qualcomm
QCOM, +0.67%
reported net income of $1.2 billion, or 69 cents a share, compared to net income of $1.04 billion, or 61 cents a share, for the same period last year. Earnings on an anjusted basis were $1.49 million, or 85 cents a share, for the recent period. Revenue rose 28% to $4.63 billion. Analysts were expecting earnings of 86 cents a share on revenue of $4.67 billion, according to consensus estimates from FactSet.

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